An independent journal about the Gannett Co. and the news industry's digital transition

Monday, April 30, 2012

Stock | Tomorrow's annual meeting wild card

For the second consecutive year, Gannett shareholders are now casting votes on a "Say on Pay" resolution, where they're asked to approve the company's executive compensation.

The result will be announced tomorrow during the annual shareholders meeting, which starts at 10 a.m. ET at Corporate's headquarters in McLean, Va. If Corporate follows last year's practice, we'll only be told whether the measure passed or failed; the actual vote breakdown may not come for several days.

(The other two measures up for vote are virtually assured to pass with little dissension. They are to elect the 10 members of the board of directors, and to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young as the company's independent auditor.)

20% thumbs-down last year
Mandated under federal law starting last year, the Say on Pay vote is advisory-only; management isn't required to make any changes in response to the results.

Last year, however, a significant number of stockholders -- about 20% -- voted against the compensation given to Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow and other top executives. We learned the vote breakdown in a separate regulatory filing three days after that spring's annual meeting.

Magner

By a slightly smaller percentage, shareholders also withheld votes to re-elect three directors who happened to all be members of the executive compensation committee, which helps set pay for management. Notably, one of those directors was Marjorie Magner, who was elected chairman after Dubow's retirement in October.

The shareholders should ask Gracia how do they let someone like Saridakis leave and invest in companies that will either directly compete with his prior company, Pointroll and invest in companies, like Narrative Science, that will put reporters out on the street, jobless.

He is the most competitive person out there and we are doomed as he sets his sights on Gannett.

Lets talk Deal Chicken! How shitty is that business? Falling apart as we speak. No mention of it anymore as the newspapers are sucking wind and no one is making any money. Reps are basically bartering with local stores for free shit for themselves and their families.

I am attending the shareholder meeting and i am going to ask Gracia about the Pointroll investigation into privacy issues, rogue executive behavior, undisciplined spending, bad finance/controls and illegal drug usage in the office.

(Jim do not delete this, because if you ask people at the firm about it, you would find all this out and confirmed). Ask the head of training or head of operations or head of creative. They all have witnessed it BIG TIME and it continues).

All the board needs to learn about how employees feel about the company can be found right here in Jim's blog. Unfortunately, what well see at the shareholders meeting are brainwashed supporters ordered to attend by our CMO.

Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."